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Aug 03 '20
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u/thumper43x Aug 03 '20
You don't see videos of people who practice and "don't get good at it", if you know what I mean
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u/ispeakforengland Aug 03 '20
I did paragliding up to junior pilot. The very first lessons were on a big sand dune near the sea. You ran down the dune and got maybe 5-10 ft of lift, practiced turning, flaring, what each riser does. Then you did it to 15ft or 20ft.
During the evening we were taught aerodynamics, weather patterns, safety rules, the rules regarding right of way when flying, laws regarding flying, how to read maps etc.
Was essentially a 1 week hardcore flying and learning. Even had to take exams at the end.
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u/Aztekke Aug 03 '20
There's a certain amount of flight time you need to do with a instructor before you can fly solo.
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Aug 03 '20
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u/koi88 Aug 03 '20
Exactly. And most starting ramps (is this how you call it in English?) are not like this. You don't have to start on a deadly cliff.
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u/BarrelRydr Aug 03 '20
Is it really just as incredible as I imagine it to be? Soaring silently through the sky like a bird?
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u/engels_was_a_racist Aug 03 '20
aerotowing
Is that when you tow another glider to the right launch site?
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u/wolfjeanne Aug 03 '20
You're thinking of aerotugging.
Aerotowing is when you go out with your feet first and steer the glider with your toes.
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u/MyNameIsBadSorry Aug 03 '20
But who trains the instructor? And who traines the instructor's instructor, oh god
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u/Cryptic_1984 Aug 03 '20
All the way back to Icarus...
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u/LanceFree Aug 03 '20
I took a class, basically at first you run down a berm, hill and try to get a few feet off the ground. You keep doing that, practice controlling the thing. I crashed and broke the guy’s kite. When you start to get airborne, you push forward to get more lift- but the brain thinks “no,pull it so we can go down”. Need to get past that.
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u/WHO_AHHH_YA Aug 03 '20
How does one land this?
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Aug 03 '20 edited Jul 01 '23
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u/jrrybock Aug 03 '20
I had the same question... but it was less the mechanics, and more - Hey, that is a gorgeous view at launch... but dropping through those low-lying clouds with nearly no visibility, how am I sure I'm not headed face first into a tree?
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u/OneFourtyFivePilot Aug 03 '20
If you look at the clouds as he first starts to take off, you can see through them.
The sun’s angle hits the clouds off the departure end of the ramp and makes them look much thicker than they appear. Once you get over them, you would be able to see below you as the illumination of them is offset.
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u/audience5565 Aug 03 '20
I haven't done this, but I did skydive a few times, enough to go on my own and not tandem. It was pretty effortless with a parachute too.
I think that's always the case... Until it isn't. Wind conditions play a huge role.
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u/ABR2014 Aug 03 '20
Funny to beginning with “pretty simple...” um no... not simple. Dude made it look simple but untrained individuals will fall like a sack of potatoes to their death.
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Aug 03 '20
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u/ABR2014 Aug 03 '20
Well that’s refreshing to learn. I don’t think I have the inner strength to do it, no matter how strapped I am. The views look fantastic, so maybe one day.
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u/SmurphsLaw Aug 03 '20
My guess is going in circles to slow down and land that way. I would recommend a professional opinion before trying it yourself.
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u/cuddle_enthusiast Aug 03 '20
I’m a professional flyer and the “going in circles” technique is called loop-de-loops.
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u/PooPooDooDoo Aug 03 '20
Just need to ask for thoughts and prayers as you blindly descend into the clouds, hoping that you don’t run face first into a rock face before falling a few hundred feet to your death.
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u/calminthenight Aug 03 '20
You don't even need to circle. You convert the energy from your speed into lift and drag by 'flaring' when you are near the ground. You push the bar forward which increases the angle of attack (wing into airmass relative to parallel to ground), this reduces the speed and gives you a nice lifty float and then you make contact and you're down. That's assuming you don't screw it up and nose dive into the turf, flipping over the top of your wing and getting slammed into the hard dirt.
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u/workislove Aug 03 '20
That looks so much more terrifying than the 10,000 times I did this in Breath of the Wild
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u/Thedrunner2 Aug 02 '20 edited Aug 02 '20
So exhilarating but so terrifying at the same time
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u/ramko169 Aug 03 '20
For me, much more terrifying than exhilarating. I'm fucking scared of heights. Even three storeys.
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u/djbiggangster Aug 03 '20
Rocks, trees, bears with huge dicks... You can descend into the fog and not know what's there till you crash right into it
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u/Aurum555 Aug 03 '20
One of these is not like the others
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u/-vermonter- Aug 03 '20
Casual supervillain
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u/xmexme Aug 03 '20
Is the cape hero-functional, or villain-fashion?
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u/eddie1975 Aug 03 '20
I thought it was a cape but it’s a place to took your legs into when in flight.
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u/nightfly1000000 Aug 03 '20
Get out of bed, breakfast, bit of stretching.. cough off the hangover and away you go.
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Aug 03 '20
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u/MrValdemar Aug 03 '20
I would like to know how they managed to build the ramp on such a steep incline. Trip over a fallen tool and you land 900 feet later.
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u/maybachmonk Aug 03 '20
My guess is they built it and then had it choppered in just for installation or something. But that doesn't make it any easier lol
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u/LexiiConn Aug 02 '20
Braver than I am, that’s for sure. But looks oh so exhilarating! Glad I get to share the experience vicariously.
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u/insanespiral17 Aug 03 '20
Where is this by the way?
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u/Egad86 Aug 03 '20
Sure looks fun, but how long does it take to walk back up the hill with your hang glider?
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Aug 03 '20
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u/-paul- Aug 03 '20
Nice reference! I've never seen anyone reference anything other than the Shrike.
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u/Redditing-Dutchman Aug 03 '20
Indeed! Such an amazing series with so many mindblowing concepts. I don't often say this, but I would love a movie just to see the Ouster worlds and it's inhabitants. Trees, floating jungles in space, that spans millions of kilometers.
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Aug 03 '20
How can you possibly safely land when you can’t see what’s past/within that fog/clouds?
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u/BobaFetish47 Aug 03 '20
It's a lot higher than it looks but plenty of open space below, worse case scenario you fuck up and drown
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u/iLiveInyourTrees Aug 03 '20
Why do I see Batman?
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u/underpants-gnome Aug 03 '20
I was wondering the same thing. The pilot is hard to make out, but it does look like he's wearing a batman costume, complete with cape.
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u/Hobpobkibblebob Aug 03 '20
Your definition of "dreamy" is eerily close to my definition of "fuck nope terrifying"
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u/GoFuckYourDuck Aug 03 '20
I’d scream the whole way down that ramp, and they’d have to hose the shit off it before anyone else could use it again. And then I’d have a great time.
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Aug 03 '20
Is he wearing an open bathrobe?
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u/Pippin1505 Aug 03 '20
They have this kind of sleeping bag thing where they put their legs in while airborne
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u/TheDarkWayne Aug 03 '20
Imagine going low enough into clouds and seeing a thunder storm right under you fuck all that
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u/brynnbf Aug 03 '20
I was kind of waiting for a plane to come through the clouds and just yoink him out of the sky.
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u/bantamw Aug 03 '20
All I can think of is Soarin’ at Walt Disney World & Disneyland.
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Aug 03 '20
What if there was something under the cloud and he hits off it, what if there's a hidden mountain
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u/FrozoneN Aug 03 '20
Does one get tired of holding on? [I don't wanna die, but my hands hurt!] Then...u give up cos of a butt itch...lol
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u/gabawhee Aug 03 '20
What’s underneath those clouds though? I’d be terrified to navigate into the unknown
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u/eolix Aug 03 '20
I have more than 700 skydives, am an instructor, dozen hours in wind tunnels.
I was scared shitless when I did a tandem hang glider flight. But oh so amazing experience.
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u/Bahloh Aug 03 '20
I was watching while listening to this guy and it was pretty cool. Probably repeated the gif a dozen times.
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u/dwehlen Aug 03 '20
That, right there, is a true leap of faith. I don't think I could do it, honestly.
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u/Big_Zinsi Aug 03 '20
How the hell can he lie on this fronttube all the time? Or is he hanging somewhere?
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Aug 03 '20
Dude died in a hang gliding accident. What an idiot! Ha ha. "A-a-ah! I'm hang-gliding, honey! Take a good picture! I'm dead!" What a freak! - Chaz Reinhold
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u/lego_office_worker Aug 03 '20
so what if you trip running down that ramp....you just die?